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Sunday, 9 March 2014

What to wear when you want to feel as though you are wearing PJs all day but don't (quite) want to look like it!

Today dawned sunny and bright and I knew that with that came the possibility of tennis with our son, bouncing on the trampoline with the youngest (subject to the loan of some pelvic floor muscles from somewhere), a few random squats/lunges should the mood take me (it didn't), some ironing and faffing in the garden. So with all those possibilities in mind, jeans or restrictive trousers were out of the question.

Given that I didn't plan to come across many people that I knew, other than during a quick trip to Waitrose (to buy the most unhealthy basket of ingredients for posh bread and butter pudding, ice-cream and chocolate cake - thank heavens for the huge bag of crisps which hid everything) I figured that I could get away with my harem jogging bottoms from Next.

I stuck them with a denim shirt tied at the waist and a modal lace vest from Jigsaw (£24) to fill in the gap between the two. M&S are great for vests with their long ones being particularly good - and H&M vests are great too but if you need one with lace around the bottom, the Jigsaw ones are the best. With a pair of converse I was good to go and all that I needed to do all day was swap the converse for wellies when I went into the garden.

I really think that a pair of good joggers/track pants, call them what you will (as long as it's not a shell suit I really don't mind. Oooh, can you imagine those making a comeback?) are a good addition to your wardrobe. Easier to style than leggings, they are also a little more forgiving, (arguably) a little more stylish and can be worn for travelling or whenever else you just need to be uber comfortable.

With trainers being such a huge trend now they can be worn with those, skater shoes, converse or wedge trainers and somehow they have become acceptable as a fashion piece in their own right, rather than just something to slob around in at home behind closed doors or when nipping out to the chippy.

My trousers aren't cuffed at the bottom but I would be very happy to wear a pair that were. I think that the thing to remember about them is that some cheaper ones will work great on some people, whilst others will have to spend a bit more. It just depends so much on the individual. I bought some from H&M late last year and they were so wrong that it was hilarious - too low in the rise, too tight on the calf - not a life enhancing experience! Anyway, here's a quick round up of some that I have come across:

There's the Next harem track pants, which at £22 are a really good price.

The Next luxe joggers (£30) are made from modal so are slightly more elegant than jersey ones and could also be styled for an evening out.

The Whistles Dalia jogging pant (£65) have a good rise on them, for anyone preferring something not too low slung.

These slim leg joggers from Hush (£39.50) are some of my favourites - but then I'm a bit of a sucker for Hush!

And these cotton cashmere trousers from Cos (£49) have had my fingers run over them many times, although I haven't ever tried them. I'm very tempted to do so though as the combination of cotton and cashmere makes them a) much less spendy than their cashmere counterparts and b) means that because of that, I would actually be more likely to wear them than rather just look at them and wish I were brave enough to do so!

As an aside, whilst Freddie was taking my photos, he was fiddling with the camera. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was making me look "vintage" to which I responded that I was quite capable (sadly) of doing that all by myself. Oh well, it's good to be good at something.

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Style Guile was conceived after I realised that there were few personal style blogs aimed at women over 35. I post daily outfits, bring you news about brands and test the trends. To me, style and fashion should be accessible to all. A stylist, I am available for individual consultations and style events. You can find me at www.bethgoodrham.com and I can be contacted at style@bethgoodrham.com